Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

For a part, you actively ask others to adopt it, and you actively contact others and you want to carry it for testing. The situation is completely different.

Cao Yang wanted to support the development of self-owned brands, but in a short period of time, self-owned brands really couldn't provide enough orders and profits for Nanshan.

So it became inevitable to take Ji Hua to recommend General Motors, Volkswagen, and Ford.

Even for the convenience of subsequent tests, each person directly checked in two gearboxes when flying.

When the time comes, give it directly to others as a gift.

In this way, even if the other party will not immediately adopt Nanshan's gearbox, they will still check it out.

After all, in the materials prepared by Cao Yang, the parameters of this gearbox are in a mess.

As an old friend who has cooperated many times, Cao Yang easily met Edward, the design director of General Motors, and Austin, the purchasing director.

Because Cao Yang stated in advance that he would come to introduce Nanshan's 6AT automatic transmission to them this time, so the design and procurement will be met together.

Of course, when the company reported, the subordinates of Edward and Austin were also present, and there were many people in a large conference room.

"Cao, Nanshan can always bring us surprises. Whether it is the previous nut plate, wheel bolts and bearings, they are all QCD's world-class products."

"But to be honest, the complexity of the gearbox is much higher than these parts."

"You have never done gearboxes before, and now you suddenly enter this field, you should lack relevant experience?"

Although everyone has a good relationship, Austin doesn't dare to put water on the gearbox.

Each model of General Motors has a corresponding gearbox supplier.

Not to mention the various tests that need to be done after the change, the interest relationship behind it alone needs to be carefully considered.

"Austin, what you said is not wrong. Nanshan really lacked experience in this area before, so we chose to cooperate with Professor Ji Hua."

"He has studied gearboxes for more than ten years, combined with Nanshan's excellent experience in the production of specific parts, the 6AT automatic gearbox we have developed now has better performance parameters in all aspects than ZF, Aisin and Jatco. Everything is fine."

"We can take a look at the content of this aspect first."

This recommendation meeting is not so easy to hold smoothly, this Cao Yang already knew it well.

If the other party can attend the meeting and seriously discuss with himself, it is considered to be very sincere.

"Let's first look at the transmission efficiency. The transmission efficiency of Nanshan's 6AT is higher than that of the automatic transmission of other manufacturers, which can reach more than 80%. This means that during driving, Nanshan's 6AT can reduce energy loss as much as possible, thereby improving efficiency. , reduce fuel consumption and emissions.”

"Looking at the fuel consumption again, Nanshan 6AT can achieve better fuel economy through the intelligent control system. According to the test data of our company, in the highway and urban road conditions, using the 2.0L engine of the Nanshan 6AT mid-size car, the fuel consumption is respectively 6.5L/100km and 7.5L/100km, more energy-efficient than other automatic transmissions.”

"In terms of acceleration performance, which everyone is more concerned about, Nanshan 6AT also performs very well. It can accelerate to a higher speed in a short time. According to our test data, using the 2.0L engine of Nanshan 6AT mid-level car, -The acceleration time to 100km/h is more than 0.3S faster than other automatic transmissions."

"And because our 6AT has excellent handling and driving comfort, it can automatically adjust gears and power output according to different road conditions and vehicle speeds, making the vehicle run more smoothly and smoothly."

"Of course, everyone will definitely be worried about the failure rate of this 6AT."

"From the experiments we have done so far, the failure rate of Nanshan 6AT is lower than that of other brands."

"The most critical point is that the price of Nanshan's 6AT will be more than 20% lower than that of ZF and Aisin in terms of performance."

Cao Yang turned himself into a salesman and praised his 6AT like a flower.

Not to mention, judging from the reaction of everyone, they are quite interested.

After all, the American style of doing things is not about modesty.

If your stuff is good, if you don’t tell it, it’s not good.

Now Nanshan is a little complacent when talking about it, but everyone feels very used to it.

This is the normal attitude to sell your products.

"Cao, what is the gear ratio of your 6AT?"

Although Edward is not a person who specializes in designing gearboxes, as a design director, he has a good understanding of the requirements for key components.

"Please ask our gearbox expert, Professor Ji Hua, to answer this question."

Professional things are done by professional people, and such answers are more convincing.

"The gear ratio of Nanshan 6AT can vary according to specific models and engine configurations, so there is no fixed answer."

After hearing Cao Yang's words, Ji Hua was not polite and started to answer questions directly.

"But in general, it has a wide range of gear ratios and can provide a variety of gear choices, which can improve the fuel economy and driving performance of the vehicle."

"Specifically speaking from the structure of 6AT, the gear ratio range of Nanshan 6AT is usually between 2.4-3.7, which can realize the switching of 6 gears."

"In this range, the gear ratios of each gear are different, among which, the gear ratios of 1st and 6th gears are relatively small to improve the vehicle's acceleration performance and fuel economy."

"The 2nd and 3rd gears have relatively large gear ratios to improve the ride and handling of the vehicle."

"In addition, Nanshan 6AT also adopts a technology we call 'adaptive control', which can automatically adjust the gear transmission ratio according to the driving state of the vehicle and the driving habits of the driver, thereby improving the fuel economy and driving performance of the vehicle .”

Ji Hua's convincing professional answers made Edward very satisfied.

"Let me add one more thing. If you ask around, you will know that an interesting thing happened in China's machine tool industry some time ago."

"Siemens and Fanuc took advantage of their monopoly position to join forces to raise prices."

"However, Nanshan came up with its own CNC system, which solved the urgent needs of many equipment manufacturers, and forced Siemens and FANUC to quickly withdraw their price increase letters."

"It can be seen that Nanshan has a very deep foundation in CNC systems."

"Now these experiences have been applied to the 6AT TCU, which has achieved very good results."

"In this regard, whether compared with ZF, Aisin, Gatco, or Schaeffler and Gates, we are very confident."

Cao Yang's introduction aroused the curiosity of many GM participants.

We are all professionals in the automotive industry, and we still have a little understanding of machine tool CNC systems.

Nanshan was actually able to deflate Siemens and FANUC in this field, which shows that the level in this area is very high.

This story is more convincing than Cao Yang who wasted a hundred times emphasizing that his 6AT control system is better.

Just like in the Ningde era back then, it first got the battery order from BMW.

When looking for other customers to promote in the future, when you talk about this situation, others can't help but give you a high look.

If it's the other way around, you just supplied batteries to Ah San's Tata, then everyone probably doesn't take it seriously.

"Cao, I will arrange for someone to test your 6AT immediately. If the performance is really so superior, then we will consider choosing a suitable model to try it on."

After Cao Yang and Ji Hua answered a bunch of questions later, Edward finally expressed his opinion.

"Indeed, as long as there is no problem with Nanshan's 6AT, then GM will naturally not reject products that are cheap and of good quality."

Austin also stood up and expressed his attitude.

So far, he has achieved the 2001 price reduction task of the purchasing center.

The CEO also specifically praised him.

This is due to Cao Yang's contribution.

Now that the anti-monopoly investigation of auto parts in the United States has not been completely completed, Austin will naturally not turn his face and deny anyone so casually.

Afterwards, Cao Yang took Ji Hua to the Ford Motor without stopping.

This time, Metz, the design director, and Chris, the purchasing director, led their respective teams in charge of the gearbox, and listened to Cao Yang's introduction.

"Cao, the cost pressure facing Ford Motor this year is very large."

"The cost of the gearbox that Aisin supplies to us is more expensive than that sold to Toyota, which makes our cars of the same type inferior to Toyota."

"As for the 6AT we researched, all the parameters are very good. At present, Mondeo, Maverick, and Explorer all use this gearbox."

"This transmission uses special designs such as lightweight materials and high-strength drive shafts to improve the reliability and durability of the transmission."

"But it also led to high costs, which made us not very satisfied."

"I don't know the approximate price of Nanshan 6AT gearbox?"

As the procurement director, Chris is naturally very concerned about cost.

If Nanshan 6AT has no cost advantage, then there is no need to discuss it in detail.

Even if we were still friends before.

"The specific cost of 6AT is closely related to the demand, and it also depends on whether Ford has any other special requirements."

"If we use Nanshan's standard products, then our cost can reach more than 8,000 RMB."

Since I want to sell to others, besides saying that my technology is great, the cost is naturally an unavoidable topic.

Otherwise, why would people buy your 6AT?

"Cao, let's keep these two samples of yours first."

"The design center will arrange personnel from the powertrain department to conduct a comprehensive confirmation and test on it, and then discuss the next step of adoption."

Mays is quite clear about the 6AT researched by Ford himself. Compared with the parameters mentioned by Nanshan, he found that Ford's own products have no advantages!

There is no advantage in technology, and there is no advantage in cost, which is embarrassing.

So he was eager to find out what was going on.

Of course, only he himself knows whether there is any idea of ​​stealing the teacher.

"No problem, I will also arrange designers and sales personnel to connect with your company. No matter what questions you have, you can consult them at any time."

Nanshan's legal department is now responsible for the registration of various patents.

So Cao Yang is really not worried about Ford stealing a lesson after taking Nanshan's 6AT.

If it were really that simple, then the products of various manufacturers on the market could obtain samples by purchasing a car.

Wouldn't all the techniques be learned by then?

If that's the case, why is China's automatic transmission industry still not working at all by 2023?

...

There is technology, there is relationship.

Cao Yang's trip to the United States is destined not to be in vain.

He had just returned to Yangcheng when he received a call from Austin.

He asked Nanshan to transport 10 6AT samples by air, and General Motors was going to select several models for real vehicle testing.

If the test results are satisfactory, it will soon consider launching a model equipped with Nanshan 6AT.

In 2001, there were no 8AT or 9AT on the market, let alone 10AT.

6AT is definitely the first choice for most mid-to-high-end models.

Now Nanshan has lowered the price of 6AT in one go, and its theoretical performance parameters are better than other manufacturers.

Whether General Motors has its own gearbox factory, it is naturally very interested in Nanshan 6AT.

Of course, for such an important part as a gearbox, under normal circumstances no manufacturer would buy from a supplier unless the factory is its own. It is a gearbox produced by its own factory or a holding company.

If Nanshan 6AT can take 20-30% of GM's share, it would be very ideal.

"No problem, I can specially arrange for a few technicians to come on a business trip and let them cooperate with General Motors to promote various tests."

People are willing to spend a lot of effort on testing, which shows that they are really interested in Nanshan's 6AT.

Otherwise, testing is also costly.

"If that's the case, then it's best."

...

"Mr. Cao, it seems that our gearbox factory is going to speed up. Now it's all hand-assembled prototypes. If General Motors really orders us by then, it won't be possible to rely on manual assembly."

Naturally, Ji Hua knew about the situation at General Motors right away.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he immediately proposed to speed up the construction of the gearbox factory.

Prior to this, the construction of the gear factory is the highest priority.

Even if Ji Hua was a little anxious, he couldn't say anything.

After all, the gearbox has not yet received any orders.

Even the research and development work cannot be said to be 100% complete.

"Real vehicle testing is time-consuming. They need to simulate various driving situations, such as urban driving, highway driving, sudden acceleration and sudden braking, etc., to test the reliability and stability of the gearbox under various driving conditions. .”

"At the same time, performance tests are also required to confirm gear switching speed, fuel economy, torque output and other indicators."

"Even if it is more rigorous, we need to do limit tests. We need to put our 6AT in extreme temperature, humidity and altitude conditions for testing. It will take at least a few months."

"So if it is the fastest, GM will not come to a conclusion until December this year, and we will have to supply parts until the first quarter of next year."

"This time is enough for us to speed up the gearbox factory."

Cao Yang is a tech-savvy boss.

When he said this, Ji Hua felt embarrassed to press any further.

Otherwise, it seems like you are too anxious.

After all, what Cao Yang said just now are all objective facts.

Even set the schedule according to the ideal situation.

"Mr. Cao, there has been news from General Motors, has Ford contacted you?"